UConn Beats Dayton To Win Weekend Tournament

November 27, 2011|By JOHN ALTAVILLA, jaltavilla@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

STORRS — –The more time passes, the more records topple in the wide wake of the UConn women. Some of them emerge from record books long unread.

For instance, did you know UConn's 78-38 victory over Dayton Sunday, on the final day of the World Vision Classic, was its 89th straight at home, an NCAA record [all divisions] for these kind of things?

As notable as this is, not even Geno Auriemma realized the milestone was shadowing him until recently, unlike last year, when every step the program took on its way to its record 90-game overall win streak was chronicled.

"I don't keep track of that stuff, but I love the consistency of our program, how we approach things," Auriemma said. "There is a consistency to it day in and day out. We're hard to play home or away, I would hope."

So scratch Division III Rust College of Holly Springs, Miss., which won 88 straight home games from 1982-89; and one last bow to University Of Nebraska-Kearney, which won 87 in a row from 1995-2001.

Leading the way to the history books — many suspect she will do this often during her career — was freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who scored 23 points, 19 in the first half.

She was one of five UConn players in double- igures. Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley each had 11. Tiffany Hayes and Kelly Faris contributed 10 each.

Mosqueda-Lewis was 7 of 13 from the field, 6 of 8 from three, and had six rebounds in 23 minutes. This came after she scored only two points on free throws Saturday against Buffalo, missing all eight shots.

Auriemma had some fun with that after the game, mocking the hype surrounding her by calling her "Baby Jesus," yet another entry in the "Only Geno" column.

"It's like a home run hitter that strikes out four times in one game," Auriemma said. "The next time they might hit three of them [homers]."

Mosqueda-Lewis said she hadn't heard the Baby Jesus reference. But she just kept swinging; taking 10 shots in 11 minutes in the first half when she was 5 of 5 from three.

"A good shooter doesn't worry about how many shots they miss. They just keep shooting and do everything else to help their team," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "I was pretty mad this morning, pretty frustrated. I felt like something good would happen."

UConn's record streak began after its Big East tournament final loss to Rutgers in 2007. When it ends is anyone's guess. But the men's basketball NCAA record for consecutive home wins is 129 by Kentucky from 1943-55.

UConn could approach that next season, providing it gets by Texas A&M, North Carolina and Notre Dame, among others, this year.

The quest for 90, now a familiar number in the program's history, takes UConn to the XL Center Tuesday against Towson. Then things then get interesting Dec. 6 when the Aggies, the defending national champions, come to Hartford.

Sunday's romp ended UConn's holiday tear through Fairleigh Dickinson, Buffalo and the Flyers. The combined score of the Huskies' wins this weekend was 242-100 – an average margin of 47.3 — a sure indication the tournament organizer's vision of a competitive tournament was clouded, at best.

"Our approach is to play every game in the effort to get better," Heather Buck said.

The Huskies got things accomplished over the weekend, proving they can win when play terribly [FDU], when Mosqueda-Lewis scores only two [Buffalo] and when an opponent [Dayton] has size and some gumption.

"When we are good, we are pretty good. When we're not, we're something less than good," Auriemma said. "I don't know why that is. Sometimes when you're less than good you are awful or just bad or sloppy."

UConn has visited Dayton's campus for NCAA Tournament games, but this was the first time they've played the Flyers. It wasn't Dayton coach Jim Jabir's first trip to Gampel, however. He coached Providence from 1996-2002, during which the Friars were 0-8 against the Huskies.

The change of venue did not help him. Like every game this weekend, it was over in 10 minutes, a rout by the half, which Sunday was enough time for the Flyers to generate the first 17 of their 23 turnovers.

Dayton (3-3) stayed close for nine minutes, trailing 19-9. But over the final 11 minutes, the Huskies outscored the Flyers, 28-7 to send the editors back to the history books one more time.